Improvement in devices for utilizing power at railway stations



UNITED STATES WILLIAM J. PLECKER, OF BUSHNELL, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN DEVICES FOR UTILIZING POWER AT RAILWAY STATIONS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 122,648, dated January9, 1872.

Specification describing certain Improvements in Utilizing Power atRailroad Stations, invented by WILLIAM J. PLEOKER, of Bushnell, in thecounty of McDonough and State of Illinois.

This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in securing,storing up, and utilizing the power of passing locomotives 5 andconsists in a mechanism or apparatus by means of which power for drivinga pump, sawing wood, or for other purposes, may be stored up by alocomotive passing a station or any locality wherever the apparatus maybelocated.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure l represents a plan view. Fig. 2 isa vertical longitudinal section of Fig. l taken on the line a' w. Fig. 3is a sectional detail of Fig. l, the section being on the line y y.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

A A represents the rails of a railroad. B represents the ties. C is atransverse shaft, supported beneathI the track of the road, in anysuitable manner, upon which are two halfclutchwcouplings, marked D andE. (See Fig. 3.) F is a drum, which is held in position by the doublepawl F', operated, as seen in Fig. 2, by means of the shifting-bar N. Gand H are two sleeves on the shaft (l. I and J are two coil-springs. Oneend `of each spring is fastened to the side of the drum, and the otherend to the sleeves G and H. On the end of each sleeve are the otherhalves of the clutch-coupling I) and E, which are marked K and L. Theoutside couplings D and E slide on the shaft C on feathers, but turnwith the shaft. The sliding couplings are made to engage with theircounterparts K L alternate ly, or one at a time, by means of theshiftingframe M, which is placed on the ties between the rails. Thisframe is moved back and forth by the passing trains by tappet-bars fromthe trains, which strike one or the other of the projectingshifting-bars N O, according to the direction the train is going. P Pare shoes, which slide in the grooved-tracks q q. R is a\ rope, which iswound around the drum F, the ends being attached to the shoes P P, asseen in the drawing.

A tappet-bar from train catches one of these shoes P and carries italong on its track and revolves the drum in one direction and therebywinds up not only the other end ofthe rope around the drum,but winds upone of the coilsprings. A train passing in the other direction willstrike the other shoe and wind up the other spring. The shoes are freedfrom the tappet-bar of the train by means of depressions in their trackswhen the shoes are extended to their limit from the drum; or, they maybe detached in any other manner. Pow er is thus stored up in thesprings, which, as they recoil, may be utilized for various purposes.

Inv this example of my invention, I impart motion to the band-wheel S bymeans of gear- Wheels, as seen at T.

I do not limiter confine myself to any particular apparatus or mechanismfor thus obtaining power from passing trains, as the va! rions parts ofthe apparatusherein shown and described may be varied in many Wayswithout departing from my invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- I. The shaft G, drum F, coilsprings I and J, sleevesGr and H, couplings D K and E L, and shifting-frame M, substantially asand for the purposes described.

2; The shoes P P and tracks q q, as and for the purposes described.

WILLIAM J. PLEGKER.

Witnesses MARTIN HINNY,

